Our first attempt at homemade longganisa yielded wonderful results. I’m not sure why I felt intimidated by the thought of making sausages from scratch, but it turned out to be a piece of cake, assuming you had the right equipment on hand. I have always been a bit confused by the terminology chorizo and longganisa when used in the Philippine context… For me, chorizos are mostly cured and possibly smoked, and do not necessarily require refrigeration before cooking and consuming it. I also associate chorizos more with their red/orange color, more a result of achuete or food coloring rather than paprika used in Spanish chorizos. I have written about longganisang hubad (without casings) before, here. I differentiate longganisas from chorizos in that the former are typically fresh and require refrigeration and cooking before consumption. Not sure if I have the distinction completely correct, but for this post, I assume I am making longganisas… The photo above features several links of longganisa colored with achuete or annatto oil (foreground) and half of the initial batch that are uncolored…

The dried, salted and refrigerated natural hog casings looked a bit bizarre and fragile. But when soaked for half an hour or more, they transformed themselves into a fleshy former self…

I cut up roughly 3 kilos of kasim or pork shoulder/butt into 1 inch cubes and placed them in a large stainless steel bowl. I added some fatback to obtain an approximately 70/30 ratio of meat to fat. Added in 15 cloves of chopped Ilocos garlic, 4 tablespoons of ilocos sea salt (you can add a bit more if you like), lots of freshly cracked black pepper, 3 tablespoons of sifted muscovado sugar, some paprika, mixed thoroughly, covered this with plastic wrap and let it marinate in the fridge overnight.

The next day I ground up half of the mixture using the coarse grind attachment of our heavy duty mixer, and once the meat was all ground up, added some 2/3 cup of ilocos cane vinegar and mixed this by hand. I had intentionally strayed from Western instructions to keep everything nearly frozen to prvent separation of oil from meat, because one of the hallmarks of local longganiza is that it has bigger bits of meat rather than a smoother and more sophisticated western sausage. Texture does play a role in the local longganisa, and maybe unintentional, or simply a result of our hot tropical weather, our ancestors ended up with a kinda chunky sausage…

The natural hog casings were rinsed several times and cut into roughly 4-6 feet lengths.

The texture of the reconstituted intestines was a bit weird actually. It certainly felt very organic, very lifelike, as if someone could feel up your pig intestines while the pig was alive…

One end of an intestine is attached to the “nozzle” through which the ground meat would pass…

…and you just had to regulate the flow of sausage meat to ensure that it was filled enough, but retained space to be tied or twisted into links.

On our first length of sausages, one end actually exploded… but no worries, it didn’t happen again and it was easy to just return the ground meat to the overall pile of ground meat…

Once we got the hang of it, the work was relatively simple and cranking out several foot long casings with filling wasn’t a problem at all.

I tried the western approach of twisting every third link (and the even numbered links in between would automatically form themselves) and it worked reasonably well…

…but the crew felt it would be safer to tie each link separately.

To the remaining half batch of ground meat, we added maybe three tablespoons of achuete oil, and 2/3 cup of vinegar, and while the meat and finished sausages seemed a bit orange, they remained rather bland looking when cooked…

I think many local chorizos have either a LOT MORE achuete, a ton of paprika (not likely), or lots of artificial food coloring to achieve the distinctive dark red orange color they are most commonly known for…

We let the sausages rest in the fridge overnight for the flavors to meld some more. But the photos tell the story better… don’t these longganisas look pretty good? And they tasted really nice as well. :)

COMMENTS:

Looks yummy. I love longanissa specially the ones from Ilocos. I prefer the garlic flavor of that variant that came from the north. I also love the ones from Cebu, which is sweet.

But above all, I like western sausages. Bratwurst is the best! :D

Jan 24, 2011 | 9:12 pm

dren
says:

Hopefully someday this will be available commercially together with the Lechon sisig here in Manila.

Jan 24, 2011 | 9:14 pm

Gerry
says:

Ilocos garlic is the best! I think it’s what gives the Vigan longganisa its distinctive taste. It’s just so difficult to peel, especially the really small cloves. It’s also a good practice to cook a little of the ground longganisa before putting it in the casing, just to taste for seasoning, but I guess you already did that with your breakfast in the last post.

Gerry, you are right, make a little patty and fry it to taste. I undersalted this first batch, and added more salt to the second batch I have chilling in the fridge right now. :)

Jan 24, 2011 | 9:36 pm

marilen
says:

I am so confident, MM, that you will tweak this recipe to great heights!! he, he – saboroso gid nga breakfast!! (Have on reading table “SecretIngredients: The New Yorker Book of Food and Drinks” – outstanding essays on food culled from that magazine for over some 70 years, you may enjoy this book)

Looking forward to trying this! I love our longganiza from Alaminos (Pangasinan) although they have lots of fat.

Jan 24, 2011 | 9:54 pm

tonceq
says:

Ilocos Longganisa for me! I do love the western wieners as well (saying i love western sausages has wierd feel to it… if you know what i mean *wink*!)

A funny incident I remembered is that of me and my niece who vehemently refused to eat any type of western sausage… when i asked her why, she reasoned out that it was unnaturally colored as it was brown rather than red!

Great work MM! BF loves longganisa but I advise him against buying from the market because you never know how sanitary(or not) it really is. Nowadays he only buys ones from SM Hyper or Supermarket.

Jan 24, 2011 | 10:06 pm

stella
says:

Home made longganisa is the best, kasi ma control mo ang salt content and fat ratio mo…

just a little request in the near future, could you try making bacon for your blog next ? I tried looking it up in the archives but haven’t seen it…:) :) no rush, though because reading all your posts is very interesting
I’m so glad to have found your blog

Thank you.

Jan 24, 2011 | 10:15 pm

dred
says:

nice job MM. But to tell you honestly, feature like this(and almost all your previous posts) has negative effect on me. I never lost a pound since I started following your blog, only accumulating more and more. huhuhu.

*salivating* Thanks for the recipe, Marketman. Just a question, will there be a difference if I grind first the meat before marinating it? Thank you.

Jan 24, 2011 | 11:45 pm

Junb
says:

Just give me a dozen of it and with garlic fried rice, pandesal or steaming hot plain rice drizzle with oil from the longganisa and some pat is or bagoong isda !!! That will definitely a perfect 10 for me :)

Jan 25, 2011 | 12:07 am

lettucedude
says:

The last photo makes me want to go for a midnight snack: longanissa with garlic fried rice and toasted fried egg with a tuba vinegar dip!!

Oh my, i’m now craving for longganisa after reading this post. I really like to eat longganisa be it pork or chicken and i like them better when uncolored (just like MM mentioned others tend to put artificial coloring).

If there is one thing that I have learned from reading your excellent blog, it is to never, ever read the food posts at night. I am now craving for longganisa with all the trimmings, at one in the morning! *wry grin*
Another thing I have learned, is that I need to schedule a mini-vacation in Cebu, if only to try the Zubuchon lechon. Some things definitely taste best at point of origin, and I know Zubuchon is one of those things.
Here’s to more and better food trips in the future!

Jan 25, 2011 | 12:54 am

satomi
says:

Does anyone here know how to make Ilocos (Batac) longganisa? It’s the best and also Lucban longganisa. yummmy!! I also love the fresh Italian Sweet Sausage. I add lot’sa garlic & vinegar when i boil them and then fried crispy!! Pahingi nga sinangag at itlog please!! lol

Jan 25, 2011 | 1:23 am

Tonito
says:

That was a nice post about homemade longganisa. But some of the longganisas in the first picture look like ‘shortganisas’.

Jan 25, 2011 | 2:23 am

dhay
says:

it looks delicious, and it looks fun to do to with the kids :) over the weekend i actually tried making home-made tocino, i have it marinating in the fridge overnight, i’ll cook a batch tonight, hoping to have great results as your longganisa does!

Jan 25, 2011 | 3:24 am

ariel
says:

wow, Just need some eggs and fried rice…and a side of atsara

Jan 25, 2011 | 3:48 am

Connie
says:

Those look yummy and not as fatty looking as the commercially made ones! I’m glad your experiment came out great!
Whenever I have a chance, I try to make my own homemade longganisa, in the absence of casings, I just roll them in wax paper, so they become the skinless kind. Hehehe. Gotta use what you have.

Jan 25, 2011 | 3:50 am

Fay
says:

Wow, this makes me miss home even more. I grew up in Laoag and grew up making the ilocos longganisa. Although we have tried to recreate it here in the US the outcome is not the same because the casings they sell are not the same as the real thing. My mom and I used to make it from scratch… i mean at an early age I was scrubbing the hog intestines, chopping the meat manually and yes even feed the fillings into the casings manually. There is nothing like homemade longganisa.

Jan 25, 2011 | 6:05 am

barang
says:

OMG,this is my favorite pinoy comfort food! Now I will be forced to buy the Kitchen Aid attachment.I already have the casing,just need to check where to get the fatback or backfat.

MM how was the meat when cooked? Did it bind naturally or maybe the fat plus the casing meld the longgonisa into a solid piece? Also, I have seen some you-tube video where they prick the longgonisa after stuffing and subdividing, but before cooking. I am assuming this is to ensure that there are no “empty” spaces.

Your site mentions several types of longgonisa (vigan, batac, pangasinan, cebu, lukban.). Is there a store in Manila where I can buy these? Can’t wait to come home in Feb. Thanks.

Jan 25, 2011 | 6:56 am

Trisha
says:

Longgannisa is in my top 3 Filipino creations. Looks good MM. I find it easier to twist/portion as you go, then its easier to make the links :)

is there a substitute for the casings? :) i tried making this before, but the lucban version with oregano, and it tasted good, but it was hubad and a bit too chunky (i manually chopped all of the meat since they instruct to not use ground meat).

i want to try this again but i’m unsure as to where to get and how to handle the casings properly. :)

Wonderful post! Wish I could easily purchase those casings somewhere though. I want the same attachments for my KitchenAid!

Jan 25, 2011 | 8:14 am

Michael
says:

You really rock MarketMan just my cool idol.

Jan 25, 2011 | 8:28 am

Maricel
says:

@ Clarissa, I took lessons in sausage making and they do recommend that the meat be hand chopped. For some reason, it tastes better, maybe because the juices do not get pressed out unlike when you grind them.

Jan 25, 2011 | 8:30 am

gaye
says:

i’m so doing this on thursday night in time for breakfast on saturday! thanks for the recipe!

Jan 25, 2011 | 8:42 am

linda
says:

MM,your longganisa looks perfect and I’m sure it’ll taste as good as it looks! I can eat longganisa any time of the day and always pair it with atcharra or pickled vegies and if I don’t have any of these pickles on hand,I’ll just quickly pickle lots of sliced onions with vinegar,sugar and lots of freshly ground pepper and puwedeng puwede na rin.

Fay from the U.S. please share with us the recipe of your ilocos longganisa. I can eat these skinless.Thanks!

linda et al, aren’t ilocano longganisas just rife with ilocano garlic, salt, and vinegar? Lots of black pepper and I suppose coloring of some sort?

Jan 25, 2011 | 9:04 am

becky
says:

Very informative post MM! :) appreciate the end to end documentation.

I just remembered an episode of Hell’s Kitchen where the contestants had to fill sausage casings uniformly. just like you did. Then Gordon Ramsay used something like a ruler but with holes to test the uniformity of the sausages.

Jan 25, 2011 | 9:07 am

millet
says:

thanks for the “walk-through”, MM…you just taught a million people that there’s nothing fearsome about making longaniza. i never buy from sources i don’t trust because i’m too scared of purveyors who use stale, unsold or worse, “double’dead” meat to make longaniza.

“as if someone could feel up your pig intestines while the pig was aliveâ€¦” – am still laughing out loud imagining this!

If you don’t have a stuffer machine, a good big plastic funnel would do the trick * end hole pwede mong insert iyong half nang forefinger mo*. I did this in my early stages of longganisa making…masakit nga lang sa kamay=)

Jan 25, 2011 | 9:44 am

mojito drinker
says:

yum

Jan 25, 2011 | 10:08 am

scramoodles
says:

These look fabulous. One cup of rice please! What I do remember from making Ilocos longganisa is that they would dip them into a pail of water and let them out to dry, but not directly under the sunlight. You know what else to do with your longganisa, barbeque them :)

Man, those look good. Good thing I just had dinner or I’d have been in big trouble. Ironically, part of the leftovers I had for dinner was this longganiza that I bought frozen from the filipino market. It was sooo bland, no flavor at all. So I’ll just live vicariously through your post again.

BTW, in the 5th picture, the picture of Crewlady’s hand looks otherworldly as she’s holding up the casing. Part of her hand/wrist looks like it’s behind the blinds yet in front of it at the same time. Hmmmm.

Jan 25, 2011 | 12:15 pm

Anne :-)
says:

MM, if I’ll not be using Ilocos sea salt, will it affect the taste? I just have regular rock salt available.

*drooling* looks so yummy!! just came back from a short vacation in Phils and Longanisa was the first one i bought I am a huge fan of Tita’s Meat Shop in Pampanga though I am not from there eh super dinadayo ko tlga just to buy tons of garlic longanisa, baby back ribs and tocino plus the Mang Paking’s butong pakwan the salty not so hard dried watermelon seed.Thier longanisa is not oily and very firm even after you cooked it and it has a mild salty, lots of pepper and vinegar taste. Love pinoy foodies!!

Anne just use regular rock salt, but NOT iodized if possible. You may want to salt then taste a fried patty before finalizing seasoning. My second batch is a bit salty, so I may have overcompensated for the earlier batch that lacked salt…

bagito, divine intervention in longganisa making? :)

Peach, not sure what goes into an alaminos longganisa…

becky, filling uniformly is not so easy, but even if they aren’t identically sized, they can be simply called “rustic” sausages… :)

Alaminos longganisas are also garlicky. Maybe a cross between lucban and vigan. I googled it and came across this photo http://www.ivanhenares.com/2009/02/longganisa-alaminos.html. Anyway, hope you get to try some one of these days. Really yummy! :-) I just don’t know if they’re available in Manila.

Jan 25, 2011 | 2:05 pm

millet
says:

i expect a lot of people burping longaniza burps within the next few days ;-)

Jan 25, 2011 | 3:37 pm

chloe
says:

though we make (and sell) Ilocos longanisa, i still crave and want to eat more whenever i see longanisas in grocery stores, supermarkets and this blog is no exception, awesome photos! Always satisfies my porky thoughts!

Jan 25, 2011 | 4:06 pm

rachel
says:

MM, thanks for the post. i’ve been having trouble with mine because my kitchen aid grind it fine even with the course disc. so, if i don’t keep it nearly frozen it would be chunky? and when you stuff the casing did you take out the grinding disc then? i have been trying to make lucban longanisa and chiang mai sausages from northern thailand but having problem with the grinder.

rachel, I start with cutting pork into small cubes, then season, then refrigerate overnight so its all cold. Then I use the coarse grinder attachment on the kitchen aid. Add the vinegar and mash and mix by hand and return to the fridge. Then I removed the grinder attachment and “fan like” metal thing behind it. Then I put in the white plastic attachment and the feeding tube in and fed the ground meat into the hog casings. You should not be feeding the ground meat back through the grinding disc twice. At least on my kitchen aid that is how it works…

Jan 25, 2011 | 8:51 pm

Jo Anne
says:

Looks really good! First thing I did after reading this is to demand from my husband to buy me that grinder attachment. I’m definitely gonna try this one. Thanks!

home-made longganisa- YUM! and cool contraption. i was wondering if that coarse grinder attachment would work with a 20-yr old kitchen aid we have at home, or is this only for the newer models… pero medyo matagal pa yata ako makakagawa ng longganisa from scratch. hog casings palang baka sumuko na ako ;p

Jan 25, 2011 | 9:51 pm

fanny
says:

I’ve tried making longganisa before, the results were okay but texture not the same as store bought longganisa. Techniques I learned from MM and readers in this post are, to hand cut the pork, and to cure overnight before and after casing. (kasi can’t wait to taste the result, eh). And also I did not use atsuete, kaya the color is not appetizing. Can’t wait to try again with MM’s recipe. Not having a Kitchenaid, I did it with a funnel just like Cusinera said. How do I avoid getting air pockets while stuffing manually? Pushing back the air out slowed down the process. I guess with the machine you don’t get this problem. Pero, I can’t cook good enough yet to deserve buying expensive equipments.

Jan 25, 2011 | 10:42 pm

fanny
says:

The hog casing I used were from our local market butcher. They were kind of thick and chewy even after frying. I had to peel it off when I eat them. Am I missing any technique to make it thinner?

Jan 25, 2011 | 11:05 pm

kurzhaar
says:

In our home we have made sausage for years (often with wild-sourced meat but also grass-fed beef and pastured pork, and even fish) as do many of our friends who also hunt (venison, elk, boar). We never use nitrates for our sausages but we do sometimes smoke them. We have both a Kitchenaid and a dedicted meat grinder/stuffer–both work well. There are sausage recipes that require grinding more than once, sometimes with ice added to the meat to maintain texture, and sometimes other ingredients must be added in after the meat is ground (think chopped fruit or diced fat for instance).

Chorizo–I think there are a couple of general types, one is the paprika-rich semi-dried sausage that I think of as “Spanish” chorizo and then there is the coarser textured, loose sausage (sometimes in casing, but the casing is usually removed before cooking) I think of as “Mexican” chorizo.

For casings we use pork or lamb casings, depending on the size of the sausage. I find lamb casings to be much finer in texture. Casing thickness depends on where in the gut the casing came from. There are synthetic cellulose casings but those are pretty nasty. And you can always make sausage patties instead. We don’t usually tie off between links unless we’re making longer sausages (or smoking them).

Fanny, for air holes, just take a pin and prick the casing to let the air out. Don’t worry too much about the pinhole…it’s more important that you minimize air in the sausage.

Jan 25, 2011 | 11:45 pm

sophie
says:

OMG, looks so good! makes me so hungry now. MM when are you gonna include that in the listing – Zubuchon, Zubu Sisig, the ever sinful but looks too yummy chicharon (coming soon…), longganisa (coming soon…)? we are all longing to taste!

Jan 26, 2011 | 12:08 am

tintin
says:

haaaay…. MM please send some on our way..

Jan 26, 2011 | 12:58 am

boopsie
says:

I am a longganiza fanatic for the longest time. I tried all kinds of longganiza and Marketman you should try Longganiza from Hundred islands Alaminos City, Pangasinan. They are my super favorite longganisa variety. They can be identified with with its tiny toothpicks included to separate the links. they are rather tiny but really tasty. they have this nice garliky, salty, fatty flavor that is beyond compare.

no other longganiza comes close in my books
my 2nd runner up longganizas are the baguio county club longganiza ( Sweet & Garlicky) and the Unimart grocery longganiza (sweet & peppery)

Good Longanizas are the Cabanatuan City Longaniza & the Batac,Ilocos Longaniza

Popular but overrated for me are the Lucban and Vigan varieties

Maybe you can do a longaniza comparo of your own to find the ultimate longaniza.

I smell a great marketman culinary adventure and writeup

Jan 26, 2011 | 2:00 am

MIKENYC
says:

Those look so good, just wondering if the recipe above MM is the “masuka” version? I’m not familiar with longganiza since i grew up eating the sweet version, I tried making a batch few weeks ago and the outcome was different, i use light brown sugar from the recipe i found in “KULINARYA” cook book and added more sugar since i like it sweet but the taste is different is there any type of sugar do i need to use specifically for longganiza?

MIKENYC, yes, these have quite a bit of vinegar. I don’t think there is a specific type of sugar for longganisa or chorizos, just need more of it probably. I have the Kulinarya cookbook and just opened it up to try and find the recipe you are referring to, but I don’t seem to have a sausage recipe in my edition?

Really good when you make your own sausages as you are assured of ingredients used. No need for preservatives :)

Jan 26, 2011 | 11:25 am

Larees
says:

Now I’m hungry….

Jan 26, 2011 | 11:38 am

rachel
says:

MM, thank you for the response.i had a feeling about the grinding disc and the fan blade.i’ll try it again.

Jan 26, 2011 | 11:53 am

evelyn cruz
says:

are the longganisas for sale? hmmmm yummy…where? how much? thank you

Jan 26, 2011 | 3:50 pm

bijin
says:

My mom used to make longganisa and to me it was the best. She made a lot of food from scratch which is how I still cook. I wish I got her longganisa recipe. However, I don’t think she had one.

Jan 26, 2011 | 4:24 pm

Ian
says:

Hi MM, great posts as always. Am back for good now from my work in Paris and hoping to open my restaurant soon. Anyways, I worked in a restaurant before and we used lamb casings wc is thinner compared to hog casing. I just wanted to know if u know anyone who sells, supplies, etc. Any help would be great. A great recipe…not cheap but delicious would be squab, mushroom and sweetbread and foie GRAS boudin. Really really. Good. More power to you and your blog.

Jan 26, 2011 | 4:27 pm

fanny
says:

Thank you Kurzhaar. I guess I have to content with just pork casings for this attempt, til I find out where to get lamb casings.

Jan 26, 2011 | 7:10 pm

fay
says:

for Ilocano longganisa, we use lots of minced ilocano garlic, black pepper, soy sauce, salt, a little sugar, ilocos vinegar, and some acuete. Back in the days we used the real pig intestines. We turned it inside out then scrubbed it with a mixture of guava leaves and cooked rice to get the smell and all the gross stuff out :)

Fanny…Kurzhaar and Ian are absolutely right…lamb casings are thinner. If you google it, lamb casings are generally used to make those breakfast sausages. They have more of a finer texture than our longganisa. They are also used to make weiners which is really ground fine like there is no tom.!

MM…made a batch ..a really small one and made a 5 spice soy infused. I have to tell you, you have to try it. I used kecap manis infused with 5 spices. It tasted just like the soy chicken. I can handle the after effects of burping! Next one on the agenda is the Lemongrass one.

For color…instead of pink salt, how about beet powder. I know that some places here use it to make their tocino

Gejo…e-mail on the way!

Jan 27, 2011 | 12:57 am

Lilibeth
says:

Hi Marketman! Do you have the recipe for Baguio Longganisa?

Jan 28, 2011 | 4:02 pm

Sonia Vinluan
says:

Wow, I really like longganisa and I am a big fan of your website since I was hooked into watching an episode of Mr. Anthony Bourdain’s NO RESERVATIONS ( Hope he make a visit to the Philippines again and eat another Filipino food specialities aside from lechon). And if you view about vegetarianism, what can you say about it. ( I am not vegetarian, to speak). If you had recipes for vegetarians please share it to us especially me because I had a friend who is strictly vegetarian.

Jan 29, 2011 | 5:14 pm

enna
says:

we call it chorizo in cebu. i have been looking for it here in norway and i always get the spanish chorizo which is different from ours in cebu. thanks mm for sharing us your chorizo recipe.

Jan 30, 2011 | 4:36 am

mikenyc
says:

Hi MM,

Sorry for the late reply and for the confusion i got the recipe from Nora Daza’s cookbook i was wondering if i make it with ground chicken, what type of fat do i need to use? since chicken don’t have much fat as pork

Jan 30, 2011 | 6:34 am

ahlie alfonso
says:

just wanted to add longanisa and tocino from pampanga are one of the best.its really good with siningag for breakfast,hay!!!! miss pinoy foods.

Feb 20, 2011 | 2:19 am

paula
says:

thanks for posting this MM, ill try doing this over the weekend..

Feb 23, 2011 | 9:37 am

mike
says:

Hi Marketman!
i would want to try making some sausages myself, where should i order or purchase hog casings from ?